Unwanted Windows 10 upgrade costs Microsoft $10,000 through lawsuit

Microsoft has been forced to compensate a user for the automatic and unwanted installation of Windows 10 on their computer. Teri Goldstein, the operator of a Californian travel agency, was awarded $10,000 through a lawsuit that alleged the forced installation caused her PC to become slow and unusable.

Goldstein was seeking damages for lost wages and the cost of a new PC after Microsoft support failed to adequately resolve the issue. Microsoft initially appealed the judgment, but withdrew the appeal last month to "avoid the expense of further litigation".

While Windows 10 has been positively received since its launch last year, many users have been complaining about Microsoft's aggressive update methods on previous operating systems, particularly Windows 7. Microsoft has been sending a never ending wave of update nags to Windows 7 users, and in some cases Windows 10 has been installed automatically.

This ruling could encourage other users affected by automatic updates to sue Microsoft in a similar fashion. Of course Microsoft will most likely appeal any further decisions if they receive a deluge of lawsuits, but there is at least a precedent for Microsoft paying money to an affected user.

For those who'd rather not sue Microsoft, there's good news just around the corner: Microsoft will be ending its free Windows 10 upgrades after July 29th, so the 'Get Windows 10' app and its pop-up prompts will soon be disappearing.